Sports minister wants foreign impact assessed

Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe has called for an independent inquiry into
whether the number of foreign players in the Premier League is having a
detrimental effect on the England team.

Sutcliffe believes the balance between English and overseas players is wrong
at present, although he stopped short of backing the quota system proposed by
FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

'I understand the complexities of the issues around freedom of movement and
competition issues, but it just doesn't feel we have got the balance right at
the moment and that we need to look at what is possible,' Sutcliffe told the
Times.

'And we may need to have some sort of independent look at what needs to
happen. But, again, you have to do that with football and you don't want to
disturb the balances that are there in terms of the success of the sport.

'We have got the best league in the world and it's great that we have got the
talent that is there in terms of the Premier League. But obviously we need to
see how that impacts on and affects the national team.

'And it is not just in the home countries, it is in Europe as well. We need
to have a look at what is going on there, what the impact is on national teams.
And so I have been talking to football about that.'